AIAB is not really a good starting point. It is rather a good ending point. AIAB has totally messed up the original Workbench setup. It is a pain to add something to it.
bon, I don't really understand what you mean by a preconfigured Workbench. You say you have your preferred configuration on CD. Now I would assume that you need a simple OS3.9 installation so you can add programs from your CD. Or you restore the setup from your CD and install OS3.9 on top of it. Now what is a preconfigured Workbench in your opinion ? Do you mean the OS3.9 installation without any additional features ? You get this by just running the installation script, where is the problem ? I don't see the pain you are talking about :-?
Bye,
Thomas